Wednesday updates

                              h/t oiltransportationcampaign

Hearing on Inslee plan to charge big polluters draws divided crowd

By Jim Brunner Seattle Times political reporter

OLYMPIA — Gov. Jay Inslee’s sweeping climate-change bill drew hundreds to a packed public hearing Tuesday, putting the divided world view of supporters and opponents on full display throughout the Capitol.

An air of urgency filled environmentalists who sang songs and waved signs at passing lawmakers, and erected a display of a burning planet.....

North Dakota: oil producers aim to cut radioactive waste bills

via Yahoo News

Not the Radioactive waste, mind you, just the cost of dealing with it.

By Ernest Scheyder

WILLISTON, N.D. (Reuters) - North Dakota's oil industry is pushing to change the state's radioactive waste disposal laws as part of a broad effort to conserve cash as oil prices tumble.

The waste, which becomes slightly radioactive as part of the hydraulic fracturing process that churns up isotopes locked underground, must be trucked out of state.

That's because rules prohibit North Dakota landfills from accepting anything but miniscule amounts of radiation.....

Children Given Lifelong Ban on Talking About Fracking

Two Pennsylvanian children will live their lives under a gag order imposed under a $750,000 settlement.

By Suzanne Goldenberg     The Guardian   Alternet      January 26, 2015

Two young children in Pennsylvania were banned from talking about fracking for the rest of their lives under a gag order imposed under a settlement reached by their parents with a leading oil and gas company.

The sweeping gag order was imposed under a $750,000 settlement between the Hallowich family and Range Resources Corp, a leading oil and gas driller. It provoked outrage on Monday among environmental campaigners and free speech advocates.

The settlement, reached in 2011 but unsealed only last week, barred the Hallowichs' son and daughter, who were then aged 10 and seven, from ever discussing fracking or the Marcellus Shale, a leading producer in America's shale gas boom.

The Hallowich family had earlier accused oil and gas companies of destroying their 10-acre farm in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania and putting their children's health in danger. Their property was adjacent to major industrial operations: four gas wells, gas compressor stations, and a waste water pond, which the Hallowich family said contaminated their water supply and caused burning eyes, sore throats and headaches.

Gag orders – on adults – are typical in settlements reached between oil and gas operators and residents in the heart of shale gas boom in Pennsylvania. But the company lawyer's insistence on extending the lifetime gag order to the Hallowichs' children gave even the judge pause, according to the court documents.

The family gag order was a condition of the settlement. The couple told the court they agreed because they wanted to move to a new home away from the gas fields, and to raise their children in a safer environment. "We need to get the children out of there for their health and safety," the children's mother, Stephanie Hallowich, told the court.....   more here

How Tesoro Manipulates WA State Politics; No gas pipeline conversion to oil in B.C.

How Tesoro Manipulates Washington State Politics

Oil company needs Gov. Inslee's blessing, but spends big opposing him.

Eric de Place      01/08/15    Sightline Institute

The Texas oil company Tesoro has big plans for Washington. Long an operator of a refinery near Anacortes, Tesoro recently unveiled plans for the biggest oil-by-rail facility in the US on the Columbia River at Vancouver. The scheme, which was become a lightning rod in the region, has already run into severe delays and cost increases and the company is scrambling to re-brand its proposal.

In a recent interview with the local newspaper’s editorial board, Tesoro executives tried to argue that the project is consistent with Governor Inslee’s agenda.

Inslee “has every reason to say yes… “I think (the oil terminal) fits into what he wants to accomplish,” said one VP.

That’s a Texas tall tale if we’ve ever heard one. In truth, it would be hard to find any company anywhere with a record more diametrically opposed to Governor Inslee’s agenda.

The fact is that Tesoro has a well-documented track record in Washington of meddling at the ballot box, funneling money to shadowy Republican groups, and financing anti-climate campaigns. In 2010, Tesoro started bankrolling Tim Eyman initiatives to the tune of $90,000. In the last two election cycles, the firm doubled-down on its political activities in the state, spending an additional $577,673 on candidate donations, lobbying, and funding political action committees.....   more here

No gas pipeline conversion to oil, B.C. vows

by  Tom Fletcher - Northern View  Jab 6, 2015

The B.C. government has adopted a regulation to prevent natural gas pipelines from being converted to carry oil to the North Coast.

Natural Gas Development Minister Rich Coleman announced the regulation Tuesday, covering six pipelines proposed to link to liquefied natural gas export facilities in the Prince Rupert, Kitimat and Squamish areas. He said other pipelines could be added if necessary.

The move comes after the Energy East proposal to switch a gas pipeline to carry oil from Alberta to refineries in Quebec and New Brunswick.,,,,   more here

Major Canadian National Railway Derailment in Alberta Spills Glue

1/07/15     Railroaded 

Early this morning, 23 cars of a 114-car Canadian National Railway train derailed near Jarrow, Alberta, spilling an undisclosed volume of liquid adhesive (a.k.a. glue) from one of the derailed cars (Global News, Prince George Citizen, CBC News). According to CN, the other derailed cars were full of gasoline and ethanol residue, both dangerous products.

Jarrow is located between Kinsella and Irma, about 160 km east of Edmonton. CN had to close down its main line between Edmonton and Winnipeg due to the derailment. Highway 14, the main highway through east-central Alberta was also closed down due to clean up crews along the road.

The extent of environmental damage from the spilled glue is not known. Apparently, CN has told the media that the spilled liquid adhesive is a “non-dangerous good”.  To the contrary and according to Dangerous Goods International, liquid adhesives are a Class 3 dangerous good because they are flammable and can cause extensive fires. Liquid adhesives are also toxic.

CN doesn’t know how long it will take to clean up the spilled material and clear the tracks of derailed cars, and says shipments along the main line will be delayed. The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) of Canada has sent a staff member to investigate the major derailment.

According to the TSB, Alberta had the highest number of main line train derailments in Canada last year and during the past 5 years.

See CN Railway Derailments, Other Accidents and Incidents for hundreds of other examples of main line, siding and rail yard CN derailments in Canada and the U.S.